The phenomenology of Xwēdōdah in the periods of ancient Elamite and Achaemenid

Abstract

Xwēdōdah had been one of the cultural issues in ancient Iran based on political thought. Xwēdōdah was especially common among royal families. Xwēdōdah tradition has been carried out for a very long period of time; the same factor explains the importance of this tradition. The emergence of this tradition based on archaeological evidence dates back to the Elamite era which continued in Achaemenid era with some changes. In the ancient Iran, religion and politics were heavily influenced by “life-worlds” having harmonic horizons. In this paper, Xwēdōdah is viewed as a ritual demand of political thought in line with the reign immortality which existed in two Elamite and Achaemenid eras and also continued into Sassanid era in another form. This research, using a phenomenological approach, studies the essence and reason of continuation of this ritual along with an objective interpretation of such evidence as water, woman, snake and abstract concepts like "Snake Goddess". Finally, it is concluded that belief in totems and their holiness originate from the demands of political thought on the basis of religion, by the institution of politics and power in both Elamite and Achaemenid eras.

Keywords

• women
• xwēdōdah
• political thought
• ancient
• archaeological documents